Pine Creek Veterinary Clinic

Review: I took my basset hound, Lady Bird, to this clinic on Oct 7, 2014 at approximately 11:15AM with 7 new born puppies. Lady, was having complications delivering the last 3 puppies. I called them a few hours later to check in, they had told me that puppy 8 was delivered, and they had to revive it. They x-rayed Lady to double check the remaining amount of puppies. There were two puppies left. Then immediately following the x-ray, Lady delivered puppy number 9, without a heart beat. There was still one more puppy undelivered. They gave her doses of calcium and oxytocin and still had no luck with number 10. I was forced to leave Lady over night as they would have to perform a cesarian section as a last resort. I called in the morning to check on her at about 8:45 AM. The doctor had just arrived so they asked me to call back. About an hour later I did, and they told me he had to go to a shelter and so he was not there, however, they assured me that Lady and the puppies were happy and healthy. They then called my boyfriend, [redacted], at approximately 2:00 PM to tell him Lady and the puppies were ready to be picked up. They did not go into detail. When he arrived, they told him that Lady had delivered puppy number 10, but they could not find it. They said that she "must have delivered the puppy when 'someone' walked her, and a wild animal must have carried away the puppy's carcass." Another puppy had passed while trying to get the vehicle to transport Lady and her litter ready, because they had left her unattended and she laid on it, suffocating it. After this long drawn out ordeal, I feel they neglected my dog, and I feel there is no excuse for 'losing' a puppy. At the very end they charged my boyfriend $500. When asked if they could do a payment plan, they replied 'no,' because she had called me the night before and I okayed it. We never discussed a price or amount for a single item or fee. They did not give me a single detail of the cost of anything.Desired Settlement: I feel they should be reprimanded and I also feel we deserve a refund.

Business

Response:

Please be advised that Dr. [redacted] is no longer working at this clinic, he sold it In 2009. This is a response to the complaint that you received on 10/8/14, ID 10258222. Lady was presented to us on 9/29/14 to radiographically assess the number of puppies, which was determined to be 11.

On 10/7/14 the owner called to say that Lady was in labor, had delivered 6 puppies and had not produced another for 4 hours. We advised her to bring Lady into the clinic. On arrival the dog had a 71h pup in the car. Shortly after setting up the welping cage and taking the dog into the clinic, an 8” pup appeared. When a couple of hours had passed without additional pups, an Injection of oxytocin was given stimulating the delivery of a 9th pup, very weak and requiring an injection of dopram to stimulate respiration. One hour later a second injection of oxytocin was given with no response. An x-ray of the abdomen revealed 2 more pups and, immediately after taking the film, the dog produced a 1O’ pup with no heart beat and it was non-responsive to CPR.

Lady appeared weak and lethargic and an IV catheter was placed to facilitate delivering IV calcium and to support the weakened condition. Another injection of oxytocin was given for the remaining retained 11 pup with no results. An ultrasound of the abdomen revealed that the last pup had no detectible heartbeat. I then left a message at about 7 PM at the only phone number that we had. I wanted to report the current situation and discuss the next step, but there was no answer and so I left a message to call. Since we knew that the final pup was dead, I decided not to take the weakened lady to surgery and spend a considerable amount of the owner’s money on a C-section, There was a reasonable chance that the final dead pup could be passed overnight without endangering Lady. The owner did not call back that evening.

The next morning we found no dead pup delivered and an X-ray of the abdomen showed no retained pup and none in the birth canal on palpation. Since Lady had been walked outside in a forested area adjacent to the clinic a few times since the last X-ray showing the dead 11th pup we are embarrassed to say that it appears she must have dropped that pup on a walk and the attending technician did not realize that this happened. It might be that this dead pup was found by some wild animal overnight and thus eluded our search the next morning.

When the boyfriend arrived the in the afternoon of 10/8/14 to pick up the dog and pups I discussed everything with him and apparently while we were talking, Lady laid on one of her pups, one of the weak ones, and we found the dog having difficulty breathing and non-responsive to resuscitation efforts. We helped the boyfriend load the mother and pups in his vehicle and gave him an itemized billing for what we had done. I am told that another pup died on the way home. Lady’s difficult birthing process lead to a bad outcome for several of the puppies. We spent a considerable amount of time In almost constant attendance and utilized several appropriate modalities (X-rays, IV catheter, oxytocin, calcium, ultrasound, CPR, and frequent checking of vitals on mother and pups) and at the same time we were sensitive to the costs since we had been unable to contact the owner concerning the treatments we felt were necessary, including the decision riot to take the dog to surgery for that last dead pup. We have been forthright with the facts. The owner expressed doubt that we were telling the truth, I offered to go over everything with her if she would like to come in and discuss it, to show her the time line, the X-rays and the record, she declined.

I know that the loss of puppies was distressing to the owner, but we employed the best medical practices to attend to Lady and her puppies. One cannot guarantee the outcome of any medical case, especially a dystocia (difficult birth). I understand her disappointment, I am perplexed over the loss of the dead pup (#11) and 1 am very sorry that the weaker puppies did not make it. Our clinic called the following day to inquire about Lady and her pups, but our message went unanswered.

I was very patient with the owner in attempting to explain the situation. She did say that she was going to contact the Revdex.com. I suggested that she could do that and come in and talk to me. I believe that the charges for everything that we did were very reasonable, that we did not neglect our patients and admitted our guilt for losing one dead pup for the reasons explained. I am always open and honest with clients and try to talk things out if there is a problem. I am sympathetic to the owner’s grief In losing puppies, but I think that there was an existing problem with this pregnancy that predisposed to this outcome. I welcome this opportunity to accurately explain this case as it happened

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: During the initial appointment on 9/29/14 it was determined that there were 10 puppies. Not 11. I only heard there were 11 puppies on Oct 8, when ladybird was released with the surviving puppies. Regardless of when it was discovered that there were 11 puppies, it was not communicated to us until Oct 8. I had made several phone calls that day in attempt to keep myself informed, and even stopped by and explained I lived 40 minutes away and wanted to make sure they did not need anything from me before I made the drive home. I had given my telephone number, and instructed them to call me, versus the number on file which belonged to [redacted]. He was working and was unable to receive phone calls. Had they called me, I would have answered. I was unaware that an attempt to call was made until two days later. While inside, there was no mention of an 11th puppy.

When I spoke with the doctor on Oct 9, he had mentioned that, he had left a message on [redacted] phone and 'had we answered, he could have discussed her current situation, as well as costs and fees.' This did not sit right with me because while [redacted] was picking up Ladybird, on Oct 8, they had assured him that I had okayed the costs the night prior. I felt they had contradicted themselves in an attempt to collect money.

I also feel the uncertainty of the number of puppies shows a lack of organization and they appeared to be fumbling to keep the facts in order.

I have spoken with multiple vet clinics that assured me that these things should not have taken place. To continue, I was advised by Pine creek to purchase Calcium Gluconate for Ladybird. This was not recommended by anyone else. I was however told that if Pine Creek really did believe it was in my animals best interest to administer the vitamin, they should have given a prescription.

I believe that had I not taken Ladybird into Pine Creek on Oct 7th, I wouldn't have lost so many puppies. The fact that my dog was left unsupervised for such long periods of time, and that she was able to step on and kill one of the puppies while in their care, concerns me and I feel there needs to be action taken. The fact that they misplaced a puppy, deceased or otherwise, is unacceptable. I feel my dog and her litter would have been in better care with me.